What happened?

On Saturday, Wodapalooza and Fittest in Cape Town announced a partnership between the two brands — the second and third place male and female finishers at Wodapalooza will automatically receive invites to compete at the Fittest in Cape Town in South Africa.

So what does that mean?

It means that on top of $15,000 and $10,000 for second and third place, those athletes will be rewarded with an automatic spot to compete in South Africa.

It also has much larger implications for sanctioned events and the Sport of Fitness.

Like?

Like creating a more professional sport for CrossFit.

A nearly universal criticism and complaint we’ve heard from top athletes, coaches and industry leaders is that professional CrossFit athletes will need to complete anywhere from six to 12 online qualifiers over the course of the year, not including the Open to have a serious shot at qualifying for the CrossFit Games.

One of the unique opportunities under his new system is having multiple chances to qualify, but also walk away with considerably more prize money at the end of the year. However, earning a top spot in a dozen online qualifiers yearjust isn’t realistic or smart from a training perspective.

Our take.

The current system isn’t sustainable.

Wodapalooza and Fittest in Cape Town’s partnership underscores just how much the industry recognizes this.

From our conversations with industry leaders, this partnership is just the first step. Discussions of more earned exemptions like this are already happening. And because each sanctioned event has the authority to run their event how they see fit, it’s only a matter of time before more jump on board and create a more unified qualification structure for Games-level athletes.